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Stock Futures Rise Ahead of Confidence, New-Home Sales Data

Written by: Andrea Tse04/24/12 - 7:23 AM EDT

Tickers in this article:
NFLX T MMM ^DJI TXN ^GSPC ^IXIC AAPL

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a mixed open early Tuesday as investors awaited the release of data on consumer confidence and new home sales.

Tech stocks were showing some cracks with Apple(AAPL) down 2% with its quarterly report due after the close, Netflix(NFLX) tanking following its first-quarter numbers, and Symantec(SYMC) losing ground because of a below-consensus outlook .

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 27 points, or 29.8 points above fair value, at 12,898. Futures for the S&P 500 were higher by 2.2 points, or 2.2 points above fair value, at 1365.

Futures for the Nasdaq were down 2.8 points, or 1.7 points below fair value, at 2648 as shares of Apple(AAPL) drifted lower and Netflix(NFLX) plunged.

The Conference Board is expected to say its consumer confidence index decreased in April to 69.7 from 70.2 the previous month, according to Thomson Reuters .

The Department of Commerce is expected to report new home sales rose modestly to 320,000 in March from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000 the prior month as home inventories stabilize and labor market conditions improve.

"The home sales data has been bumpy and housing is trying to form a bottom and has been for many months and I don't see any change in that," says Michael Sansoterra, fund manager at RidgeWorth. "It's the spring buying season. Most people expect housing to be bumpy."

Earlier, the Case-Shiller 20-city Index showed a slight rise in February, up 0.15% from January, falling slightly short of the consensus view for an increase of 0.2%, and bringing it to an annual decline of 3.5% versus the expected fall of 3.4%.

Also, the Federal Reserve's latest two-day meeting on monetary policy starts Tuesday. Economists expect the central bank to stay committed to low rates until 2014, with Chairman Ben Bernanke likely leaving the door open for further quantitative easing. Bernanke is slated to hold one of his quarterly news conferences on Wednesday.

In corporate news, Apple has been weak ahead of its quarterly report, losing ground in nine of the past 10 sessions and dropping roughly 10% in the process. Analysts are expecting earnings of $10.02 a share in the company's fiscal second quarter on revenue of $36.7 billion. Investors will be paying close attention to iPhone sales, given recent worries of a slowdown. The stocks was down 2.2% at $559.23 ahead of the open.